"Latino Arizona: 100 Years," a state Centennial documentary photo exhibition,

opened First Friday, Feb. 3 at the Arizona Latino Arts & Cultural Center in Phoenix.

It holds a mirror to our past, and chronicles the contributions Latinos of Mexican descent have made to the wonderful state of Arizona. This revealing photograph collection looks back at the early days of Latino pioneers and their many contributions to the founding and growth of our state.

The photos collected by Frank Barrios, author of the book Mexicans

in Phoenix; Cathy Murphy, official Staff Photographer for the

United Farm Workers; Tucson photographer Julie Gallegos; and

other Arizonans provide an insightful perspective of the histories of the

state's most influential cities. This exhibit shows how Mexican businesspeople, laborers, elected officials and their families

were a vital part of Arizona's growth.

More than 50 photos of Latino life in early Northern, Central and Southern Arizona comprise the exhibit.  A graphic timeline highlights Latino historic events.

Some of the historic photographs were provided courtesy of

The City of Chandler Public Art Program.

Our lecture series will continue on February 23, 2012 at 6:30pm at ALAC, with Dr. Gloria Holgu�n Cu�draz an Associate Professor of Sociology at Arizona State University. She received her doctorate in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1993. She is a member of the Latina Feminist Group, co-authors of Telling to Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios, published in 2001.

Her current research explores the Mexican community in the labor camps of Goodyear Farms, located in Litchfield Park. In 2006, in partnership with the Litchfield Park Historical Society, she videotaped 50 oral histories of the camps' descendants and produced the award-winning "Voices from the Camps of Litchfield Park." In 2007 a photo exhibit, "Images from the Camps of Litchfield Park: Gente, Lugares, y Comunidad," was held at ASU's Fletcher Library. In 2010, she produced a video on "The Historic Sites and Sacred Places of Litchfield Park." The full collection of oral histories of the Mexican community will eventually be accessible at the Chicano Research Collection at Hayden Library at the ASU Tempe campus.